Posts Tagged ‘former yugoslavia’

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that the measured rate of the expansion of the universe depends on the method used to track this rate, and that this is a problem.

On Sunday, Caitlin Kelly celebrated receiving her annual cheque from Canada’s Public Lending Program, which gives authors royalties based on how often their book has been borrowed in our public libraries.

In The Buzz, the Toronto Public Library identified five books in its collection particularly prone to be challenged by would-be censors.

D-Brief suggests that, if bacteria managed to survive and adapt in the Atacama desert as it became hostile to life, like life might have done the same on Mars.

Far Outliers notes the crushing defeat, and extensive looting of, the MOghul empire by the Persia of Nader Shah.

Hornet Stories looks at the medal hauls of out Olympic athletes this year in Pyeongchang.

Imageo notes satellite imagery indicating that fisheries occupy four times the footprint of agriculture. Aquaculture is starting to look like a necessary idea, I think.

At In Media Res, Russell Arben Fox praisesPorch Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser, for its insights on Wilder and on the moment of the settlement of the American West.

JSTOR Daily notes how, in the 19th century after the development of anesthesia, the ability to relieve people of pain was a political controversy. Shouldn’t it be felt, wasn’t it natural?

Language Hat links to an article taking a look behind the scenes at the Oxford English Dictionary. How does it work? What are its challenges?

At Lingua Franca, Roger Shuy distinguishes between different kinds of speech events and explains why they are so important in the context of bribery trials.

The LRB Blog shares some advice on ethics in statecraft from the 2nd century CE Chinese writer Liu An.

J. Hoberman at the NYR Daily reviews an exhibit of the work of Bauhaus artist Jozef Albers at the Guggenheim.

Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of travellers drinking homemade wine in Montenegro.

Larisa Kurtović writes at anthro{dendum} about her experiences, as an anthropologist studying Bosnia and a native Sarajevan, at the time of the trial of Ratko Mladić. Representation in this circumstance was fraught.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the remarkable claim that extragalactic planets have been discovered 3.5 billion light-years away through gravitational lensing and does not find it intrinsically implausible. Centauri Dreams also looks at the background behind the claimed detection of two thousand rogue planets, ranging in mass from the Moon to Jupiter, in a distant galaxy.

Dangerous Minds reviews a fantastic-sounding book reviewing girl gangs and bikers in the pulp fiction of mid-20th century English-language literature.

Hornet Stories links to the Mattachine Podcast, a new podcast looking at pre-Stonwall LGBTQ history including that relating to the pioneering Mattachine Society.

JSTOR Daily notes the substantial evidence that fish can actually be quite smart, certainly smarter than popular stereotypes have them being.

Language Hat reports on the existence of a thriving population of speakers of Aramaic now in existence in New Jersey.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the many ways in which the privatization of state businesses have gone astray in the United Kingdom, and suggests that there is conflict between short-term capitalist desires and long-term needs. Renationalization a solution?

Stephen Baker of The Numerati reflected, on the eve of the Superbowl, on the origins of his fandom with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1963 just before the assassination of JFK.

The NYR Daily shares a rational proposal for an Israeli-Palestinian confederation that, alas, will never fly given irrational reality.

Seriously Science notes a paper suggesting that Norway rats do, in fact, the reciprocal trade of goods and services.

Strange Company notes an unfortunate picnic in Indiana in 1931, where the Simmons family was unexpectedly poisoned by strychnine capsules? Who did it?

Window on Eurasia notes a demographers’ observation that, given the age structure and fertility of the Russian population, even with plausible numbers of immigrants the country’s population may never again grow.

The suggestion by David Moscrop, at MacLean’s, that between the rise of authoritarian China and the Trump ascendancy in the US, liberal democracy may face particular peril this year seems worryingly plausible.

Evan Osnos at The New Yorkerlooks at how the savvy Chinese government is taking advantage of Trump’s incapacities.

This DefenseOne essay arguing that India is facing a point where it is unable to defeat Pakistan in conventional battle is worth noting.

This B92 essay arguing that the European Union should make special provisions for the western Balkans to avoid their protracted decay outside of the Union convinces me, at least.